We had family in town on an unseasonably warm April Saturday night and made plans to eat at our local steakhouse. I was dreaming of sipping a Greyhound and visiting over a very rare steak and sweet potato fries. After I washed up and was ready to join the rest of my family, my phone rang.
Our neighbor told me two of our young studs were out. So I said hello and goodbye to the family, put in my "to-go" order and back to the ranch I went.
Despite the fact that it was 7:30 and my stomach was rumbling, I had a job to do. I ran through every possible scenario of where the studs might be, and what the best plan of attack was so I wouldn't be chasing horses in the dark.
I hoped I would find them in the northwest corner of our saddle horse trap - the same trap that contains the corral they'd found their way out of. If they were both there I could open their corral gate and the barn and haze them into either space so they'd be trapped!
I found and repaired the spot where they'd pushed through. I saw one of them in the corner, so the other couldn't be too far away. As I drove down to the cow corrals, I noticed Cisco, the older of the two, fighting over the fence with our supreme stallion, Nuke. While that's going on, I see Nutter Butter, the other escapee, trotting towards me.
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My timing was impeccable, because I drove straight to the second open gate into the saddle horse trap and shut it just as Nutter Butter trotted up. At least now he's one step closer to where he's supposed to be!
Now, for Cisco. I get back just in time to see him go out the open corral gate while Nuke charged at him, breaking through two mega-plank corral panels. For a split second he thought about jumping over, and thankfully my body language made him change his mind. I chased Cisco back into the pen where he'd been and hazed him into our round corral. I locked that corral gate and ran to grab a halter.
By the time I got back, Cisco had wandered down the working chute and realized he's kind of stuck - in that he'll have to back out if he's gonna get out of his current predicament. Climbing onto the catwalk, I halter him and back him down the alley, and we trot right over to the ATV. I climb in and start the task of leading him a quarter(ish) mile home.
Meanwhile, Nutter Butter had joined up with the first calf heifers, so I figured I could probably just pick him up on our way to their corral, but I didn't see him. The sun was beginning to set. Cisco was breathing pretty hard all the way home, but I figured if he had the energy to fight with Nuke, he could muster the energy to trot back to his pen.
I found Nutter Butter hanging out near the saddle horses, unharmed, not sweating, quietly eating and glad for the company. He was easy to catch and quite willing to come with!
As I neared the corral with Nutter Butter in tow, my other half texted saying he was on his way home with some steak. That elicited a "yeah yeah" from me.
When I got home, I headed for the vodka. I was finally going to get to enjoy that cocktail along with a rare steak - maybe not like I'd originally envisioned, but it was still going to be good! Life around here is never dull. You make the most of it - if you don't laugh you might cry, and that is rarely an effective way to look at life!
